As we commemorate the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, it seems appropriate to reflect on the leadership and courage of Joshua Chamberlain without whom the South may have very well won the battle of Gettysburg and consequently the war.

On July 2, 1863 Colonel Chamberlain with his 20th Maine Regiment was positioned at the end of the Union line. He was informed that a “desperate attack” was expected to commence on that position at any moment and was told to: “Hold that ground at all hazards.” As the battle wore on his regiment ran out of ammunition. Remembering those words, “hold that ground at all hazards,” Chamberlain had his men fix their bayonets and charge the enemy stopping their assault on that position and denying them the opportunity to place themselves behind the Union line and its supplies and ammunition.

He continued to serve well during the Civil War. Wounded several times during the war, the most severe was at Petersburg, Virginia, where it was thought he would not survive. He had been leading an attack when wounded. Fearing that his men would fall back if they saw him fall, he stuck his saber in the ground to hold himself upright.

After a long recovery period he returned to the Army of the Potomac and was chosen by General Grant to accept the arms and colors of Lee’s defeated army at Appomattox. When the Confederate soldiers marched by, Chamberlain had his men salute them as a show of respect.

After the war he returned to teaching at Bowdoin College for a brief time and then went on to serve as Governor of Maine for four terms.

Please enjoy this inspiring message as we remember the 150th Anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg and our Nation's Independence. In the movie "Gettysburg," Colonel Joshua Chamberlain delivers one of the great speeches in Hollywood history. In real life, his leadership in battle was even better.

"This remarkable biography traces the life and times of Joshua L. Chamberlain, the professor-turned-soldier who led the Twentieth Maine Regiment to glory at Gettysburg, earned a battlefield promotion to brigadier general from Ulysses S. Grant at Petersburg, and was wounded six times during the course of the Civil War. Chosen to accept the formal Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Chamberlain endeared himself to succeeding generations with his unforgettable salutation of Robert E. Lee's vanquished army. After the war, he went on to serve four terms as governor of his home state of Maine and later became president of Bowdoin College. He wrote prolifically about the war, including The Passing of the Armies, a classic account of the final campaign of the Army of the Potomac."

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee concentrated his army around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, upon the approach of Union Gen. George G. Meade’s forces. On July 1, Confederates drove Union defenders through Gettysburg to Cemetery Hill. The next day Lee struck the flanks of the Union line resulting in severe fighting at Devil's Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Peach Orchard, Culp’s Hill, and East Cemetery Hill. Southerners gained ground but failed to dislodge the Union host. On the morning of July 3rd, fighting raged at Culp’s Hill with the Union regaining its lost ground. That afternoon, after a massive artillery bombardment, Lee attacked the Union center on Cemetery Ridge and was repulsed with heavy losses in what is known as Pickett’s Charge. Lee's second invasion of the North had failed.